FBI confirms Tinubu investigated over alleged drug trafficking

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was investigated over alleged drug-trafficking activities in the early 1990s.

The confirmation was contained in a sworn declaration filed by the FBI on August 28, 2026, before the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The document was submitted as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case seeking access to FBI records connected to Tinubu.

In the declaration, the FBI said, “the responsive records herein were compiled in furtherance of the FBI’s investigation of multiple individuals for drug trafficking crimes.”

The agency also said, “the court has already determined that an official acknowledgement had been made of an investigation of Bola Tinubu.”

The latest filing follows an April 2025 ruling by US District Judge Beryl Howell, who said the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could no longer use “Glomar” responses to refuse to confirm or deny whether records about Tinubu existed.

Howell ruled that the agencies had not provided sufficient privacy grounds to hide the fact that Tinubu had been investigated.

She ordered the agencies to process records requested under FOIA, except those protected by legal exemptions.

However, the ruling did not find that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence or that he was convicted of any crime.

The FOIA requests were filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan. He requested the “entire FBI file for Bola Ahmed Tinubu”, as well as FBI 302 interview records involving Tinubu in FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU between 1992 and 1993.

The requests were linked to a wider attempt to obtain records concerning a Chicago heroin-trafficking operation investigated during the early 1990s.

The FBI has continued to keep parts of the records secret, citing exemptions relating to personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement methods and information that could put people at risk.

The agency said it could not publicly explain the full reasons for some of the exemptions.